My barn has a very nice indoor arena, and I still can't get a thing done this winter because my horse has lost his mind. There's something about the walls and confinement on an indoor that seems to chip away at the psyches of horses as the winter progresses. It starts with a small spook in late December, moves onto a few bigger spooks and some more overall tension on your horse's body. By February, you're riding a combo/squirrel/time bomb and spending most of the time playing defense from all the monsters. Today the birds showed up and started nesting, so now he's freaking out about all those new sounds too.

I have not even been able to canter in 3 weeks no less practice my jumping. I can't wait until the 38" of snow we just got melts and we get the first freak warm days so I can get him back outside where there aren't so many monsters.

I know I ask this every year around this time, but has anyone else's horse lost it's mind yet this winter?

waresbear

02-12-2013 10:18 PM

Awwww, sorry, that's sucks Puck, silly boy of yours. Nope, my horses are better behaved in the winter, probably from trudging through the deep snow and wearing the edge on off them.

Lexiie

02-12-2013 10:19 PM

Thankfully no! My mare has her brain on lockdown!

The wind banging the metal siding around will get her once in a blue moon, but otherwise no. Maybe it has something to do with the indoor and their stalls having metal siding. Who knows. I'm just super thankful and lucky!

BarrelracingArabian

02-12-2013 10:22 PM

Thank god i live where an indoor isn't needed haha. I feel your pain though scary monsters tend to appear from the places horses see most haha.

Poneigh

02-12-2013 10:22 PM

before I retired my gelding he would get so depressed in winter when i had to ride him inside. my mare never minded though and now we dont have an indoor which sucks!!!!

Copperhead

02-13-2013 12:23 AM

We have an indoor but its very crowded in winter. The barn gets pretty busy and we usually have room to spread out. The indoor is pretty decently sized but when you cram 4 horses in there, not a whole lot gets done.

My mare is pretty calm in the indoor but she had been getting crankier and crankier. We were cantering outside just fine until winter hit. I was going to wait to canter her in the indoor since the circles would be smaller and we needed to work on balance. At first she resisted but then we settled into a nice rhythm after a couple days worth of trying.

Now she bucks, which I can ride and push her through. But she hates the indoor and is becoming increasingly cranky for wider spaces.

So am I!

usandpets

02-13-2013 12:57 AM

My wife's horse hates arenas. Especially the corners. She thinks he was tied in a corner or something tragic happened in one.

Another horse of ours is a fruit loop outside but is complete opposite in the arena. We nicknamed him Showpony even though he's almost 16hh.Posted via Mobile Device

Muppetgirl

02-13-2013 01:04 AM

Yes! I noticed my horse getting squirrelly this January and have now moved him to a barn with a semi enclosed arena and lots of turn out......it means I have to wear my tuk and long johns while riding, but the difference in my horse is awesome! He's happy! Not souring up and getting squirrelly!!!

BeachinIt

02-13-2013 08:04 PM

So glad I'm not the only one whose horse loses it in the winter. No indoor, not even a fence around the outdoor ring. She's wide open, just convinced that leaf is going to kill her. Sigh.Posted via Mobile Device

ponyface

02-13-2013 09:00 PM

ugh, losing their minds in the winter? story of my life. fortunately flicka still has a few brain cells this year; last year was just awful. she didn't really get spooky, she just got a nasty attitude that was accompanied by bucking/crowhopping/kicking walls/etc. dum-dum-pony also didn't like getting her girth tightened and would lay down in the crossties.